


worth it

by mukaismom



Category: Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken | Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword
Genre: Anxiety, F/F, Friendship, M/M, Post-Canon, Relationship Talks, florina and eliwood are both prep-passing nerds who really love flowers, power of friendship but like rly chill. not like naruto powerups
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 12:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14873832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mukaismom/pseuds/mukaismom
Summary: Now accustomed to Sacae's nearly un-populated plains, Florina wonders if she can really handle the chaos of Pherae's market. Fortunately, her girlfriend and best friends have her back.





	worth it

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iavenjqasdf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iavenjqasdf/gifts).



> lesbian-gay solidarity

_This was_ , Florina thinks,  _maybe a mistake_.

Hector plows a clear enough path through market crowds for Eliwood, Florina, and Lyn to walk side by side, but all around her smells of oranges and cumin, sweat and lavender, roses and and even dried fish that must’ve been imported all the way from Badon. It’s too much, and she’s not sure if she’s about to sneeze or pass out cold on the street. One shout from a jewelry vendor is enough to distract her from a sudden turn Hector takes down a side alley, and she trips, feeling as slow as in a bad dream.

But Lyn catches her with one of her dashing smiles and finds herself upright and walking again, Lyn’s hand on her back.  The next big street opens before them, where there’s the scent of chocolate so dark it nearly matches coffee, dried chamomile and leather and grilled pig, cow carcasses hanging from rope, and there’s fabric everywhere, rug stalls, drying cloth on window panes and panels dipped into vats of inky reds and blues on the street. Every blink of her eyes introducing a new color. It’s too crowded, loud, and bright. She sways.

“Flor, would you like to see that flower stall?” Lyn looks at her gently, hand still on the small of her back. Florina shakily squeezes Lyn’s free hand. That’s a  _no_ – she and Florina made up a little language for when she has trouble speaking–and next comes a double-tap on Lyn’s wrist:  _I need quiet._

Lyn nods. Her eyebrows are furrowed dramatically, and that makes Florina smile a little despite the cold sweat on her brow. She looks so stern when she’s worried.

“Just wait a moment, Flor, I’ll speak with Hector.”

Eliwood appears at Florina’s side the moment Lyn steps away like some kind of changing of the guards. He holds out the crook of his elbow with a bit of a smirk.

When Florina first met Eli, she thought he was too polite, too earnest, to ever make such a face. But he’s talked her through a few panic attacks and shared his oldest naturalist journals (drawn and noted by eight-year-old Eliwood, who had not yet left Lycia and therefore relied on his imagination for many creatures. Florina’s personal favorite is his dragonfly-winged pegasi). Now Florina knows that his smirk is just as genuine as the rest of him. It’s never mocking, just a little wry, an “I understand” sort of smile with the same crinkly-eyed kindness as usual. Florina’s stomach churns, but she smiles back and takes his elbow. She can feel her voice returning.

“I’m ready to jump off the Missur peninsula,” she says, quite unprompted, and Eliwood laughs.

“Me too,” he says, “though probably not as much as you’d like. I need to see these flowers first.”

He cuts through the throngs to the flower stall and gestures at a bundle of orange gladioli. “These remind me of Hector.”

“You should buy them,” Florina says. “But you remind me more of gladioli than Hector.” A beat, and her eyes go wide. “Sorry, that was kind of rude. I don’t think it’s a bad idea or anything–” Eliwood prods her gently with his elbow.

“Flor, you’re allowed to share your opinion.” He side-eyes her from his enviable height and says, “Besides, Hector said the same thing. That it reminds him of me, that is.” His cheeks redden a little.

“Oh?” Maybe it’s too private a moment Eli’s remembering, but Florina will try her luck. Any information about Eliwood’s love life is precious–she could always ask Hector, but hearing it from Eliwood’s reserved mouth feels like an extra honor to her, that he feels safe to be vulnerable.

“We were in the foothills,” Eli starts, then scratches his cheek. “We were in the foothills last spring and there were gladioli  _everywhere_. All sorts of colors. There was orange like this bundle, and pinks and purple and even this orange-red morph, you would’ve _loved_ it, Florina! But anyway,” Eliwood pauses for breath and his eyes look distant and bright.  
  


“We were picnicking–this was one of our first dates–” Florina snorts. They were basically dating before they called it such. To everyone else, this was probably their hundredth date. “–and he pointed at a gladiolus. This one was white, but almost pink, and I remember that because when you looked at the flower at a different angle or time it looked like the color had changed. Anyway, he pointed at it and he said that it reminded him of me. Because it was ‘beautiful and sturdy’, verbatim.”

 Eliwood pauses, presumably time to let Florina laugh at Hector’s choice of words, which she does and sneaks a glance up. His face really is warmest after he speaks of Hector, both heat-wise and metaphorically.

“He explained in a rush right after that that he meant ‘strong’. But now they don’t remind me of  _me_ , they remind me of him.”

“Aw, Eli, that’s so sweet,” Florina says, because it’s true. As an afterthought: “And sappy,” because it’s also true. Then she stretches on her toes and whispers conspiratorially, despite her certainty in the answer: “Have you told Hector this?”

His face reddens impossibly more just as Lyn and Hector bound over.  _That’s a no, then._

Lyn’s face lights up when she sees Florina and hugs her quickly. “Hector and I found a courtyard. It might be someone’s private land but it’s right off the road so it should be okay,” she says. “Though…” Lyn looks her up and down, “it looks like you’re doing a lot better. Am I right?” she asks.

Florina nods. “I’m still sorta tired, though. Let’s head to the courtyard.”

She catches Eli’s eyes, looks at Hector, then back to him.  _Tell him_ , she mouths. Then Eli grabs Hector’s hand and they’re off.

She’s glad she came.


End file.
